RAIN GAMBLING IN CALCUTTA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2701, 2 November 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

RAIN GAMBLING IN CALCUTTA.

A writer in the Times of India describes a system of gambling in Calcutta on rain. It is carried in a " compound" off the Burra Bazaar, where, when a raincloud crosses the sky, a crowd collects of eager excited men ; some rush about frantically, othera perch themselves high on adjonining roofs nnd gesticulate wildly to friends below, while nil gaze anxiously at the eky. These are the siitta, or rain speculators, and the system, as explained by the lessee of the compound in which it is carried on, is extremely simple. On the roof of his offico is a ditch which will hold eight surs of water. If a raincloud bursts and the tall exceeds this amount, the overflow is discharged into the compound by a spout. This decides all tho bets, those who wagered it would rain winning. The bets aro entered by the proprietor in a book, the commission being one pice per rupee, and the transactions being all settled at 10 o'clock tho following morning. A defaulter is hardly ever known ; the gamblers aro mostly money-lenders, men of substance, and well known to each other. They are a class by themselves, and the stakes aro usually inconsiderable, whoreas in Bombay it, is not unusnal to have thousands of rupees on the rain. The system has one advantage—raiucloude cannot bo manipulated ; they cannot be loaded like dice, or " faked" like horses ; there are no handicappere, no starters, no owners, and no jockeys.